Nobody’s written a book on how to open a business in the middle of a pandemic, Elise Landry said, but if it’s something you have to do, hope for the good timing she experienced with her new restaurant Chicory. more

OLYMPIA –– Members of the city’s parks and recreation advisory committee discussed the possibility of having outdoor adult fitness equipment in parks amid COVID-19 restrictions to promote usage of parks. more

OLYMPIA –– City officials will talk on Thursday night about how best to meet the needs of the city’s residents, with plans to discuss installing outdoor exercise equipment in public parks for visitors to use while COVID-19 restrictions are in effect. more

OLYMPIA – The Thurston County Public Health and Social Services (PHSS) Department confirmed there is a toxic blue-green algae bloom in Lacey’s Long Lake, making it unsafe for swimmers and pets. The most recent sample detected microcystin algae toxin levels at 14 micrograms per liter of water—above the state standard of eight micrograms per liter for recreational water use. more

OLYMPIA –– Voting is now open for new sculptures to be put on display at Percival Plinth, an annual project that shows a new batch of sculptures at Percival Landing. Members of the community get to vote on the best sculpture, and the most popular sculpture will be added to the city’s public art collection. more

Olympia -- Neighbors in the Wildwood Neighborhood Association figured out a way to have an event that let them observe social-distancing rules, avoid the 10-person limit for public events and create … more

OLYMPIA — Like countless other entities across the world, the folks heading up the nonprofit Olympia Film Society, which operates the historic Capitol Theater, found themselves needing to adapt in a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. more

OLYMPIA –– When I first heard about the Buy Nothing Project, my boss was telling me how she parted out her crockpot for free to people who came and picked it up off her porch. She just posted a picture in a Facebook group, and the broken crockpot found a new home. more

OLYMPIA –– Even in human time, it hasn’t been long. From the beginning until now, it’s been a bit more than two months. more

OLYMPIA –– I have only lived in Olympia for a few months. Most of that time has been during social distancing, face masks and hand washing in the COVID era. more

OLYMPIA –– It started with sensitive skin and pretty soap. The then-10-year-old Olympia resident, Naomi Barer, would walk into a store that sold beautiful soaps that the sensitive-skinned Barer couldn’t use. more

Hello Thurston County! We are definitely seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases in Thurston County. The most common ways people are becoming infected is through travel, social gatherings, and from other people within their household. Now is the time to be physically distant, but socially connected. more

WASHINGTON –– Look up! As Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE passes through our inner solar system, catch a view of this once-in-a-lifetime sight. more

THURSTON COUNTY –– As parks in the greater Olympia area start to open up under “Safe Start” Phase 3, government officials are starting to spread the word about what to do to stay safe while enjoying local parks. more

You wake up one morning and discover a bat fluttering around in your bedroom. Concerned, you wonder if this is a problem, and seem to recall that bats may harbor rabies. What should you do Rabies … more

THURSTON COUNTY –– Tourist spending in Thurston County grew more than 25 percent between 2015 and 2019 according to data released this week by Tourism Economics, a national travel research firm. more

LACEY –– North Thurston Education Foundation (NTEF) awarded scholarships this week to several graduating high school students in the area totalling $136,000 between 41 students. more

One of my greatest memories, and that which separated South Sounders from others, is berry picking. Every kid during the 1950’s and 1960's picked berries.  As soon as school let out in … more